The Super Bowl came five days early for students from three elementary schools.

Fourth-graders from Pineview Elementary, Saluda River Academy for the Arts (SRAA) and Springdale Elementary competed in Lexington 2 School District’s Math Super Bowl Wednesday at Wood Elementary in Pine Ridge.

“This is a big deal for me and I want to do my best,” said Brennen Brooks, an SRAA student. He said math is his favorite subject.

When asked if he was looking forward to the Math Bowl, Brooks said: “Yes and no. I’m kind of nervous.” He said his Math Bowl Coach Jessica Dorn told him that the competition is “very smart and they have been practicing a long time.”

“During the competition, the teams used their tablets to collaboratively respond in two rounds of extended-response questions based on fourth grade math standards,” said Dr. Frieda Bingham, Lexington School District 2’s math coordinator.

Saluda River Academy for the Arts Mathletes.

Gina Kussro, Brooks’ teacher at SRAA, said it’s an accomplishment to get to the district level match, which required competition with another school.

“It’s exciting to be here,” Kussro said. “They have had to go through a competitive process to get here.”

She said the students who accompanied the Math Bowl Team of six to Wood are proud of their classmates. “The rest of the school is excited to be here, too.”

After all the number crunching was over, Bingham announced: “The team of “Mathletes” from Pineview Elementary collaboratively earned the 2017 Math Bowl Championship.”

Springdale Mathletes.

Hopefully the Super Bowl in Houston Sunday, pitting the Falcons versus the Patriots, will be as much fun and full of team spirit.

Bingham also said: Students from participating schools worked to demonstrate understanding of mathematical skills, concepts, and strategies in the standards and apply these skills in real-world context. The goals of the Math Bowl were to create dialogue among teachers, administration, and students; provide opportunities for district-wide horizontal articulation among fourth grade teachers; and to utilize results from the competitions to drive future instruction.